Apple users are already notoriously faithful to their consumer electronics brand of choice, but one industry watcher thinks Apple customers will soon be almost impossible to steal. In a recent piece, Forbes contributor Mark Rogowsky discussed how unbelievably loyal Apple customers are — for example, a recent survey found that 91% of current iPhone owners plan to purchase another iPhone — but he argued that Apple’s big upcoming moves in two key areas are going to push Apple customer loyalty to the next level.
According to Rogowsky, Apple’s TV efforts and likely push into gaming will introduce yet another area where Apple’s ecosystem will lock users in. Then the next piece of the puzzle, Rogowsky believes, is the iPhone 5S and iOS 7’s integration with cars.
“What iOS in the Car gets Apple is a further closing of the loop by which you and your data are tied together across Apple devices everywhere from your computer to your tablet to your phone to your TV set top box to your ‘smartwatch,’ ” Rogowsky wrote. “If it’s difficult to consider swapping out an iPhone for a Galaxy S4 today given how the iPhone integrates with some other Apple device you might have, imagine what it would be like if you had a half dozen. That’s why Cook wants to double down on Apple being the primary vendor of iPhones as opposed to third parties: So Apple can lock you in. The thing is, most loyalists don’t mind, so long as Apple keeps them comfortable on the couch. Or as they cruise down the highway.”
iOS 7 will launch alongside the iPhone 5S this fall.
